Children reveal search engine knowledge

A new study by Ofcom, the UK regulatory agency, has discovered that a third of UK children believe search engine listings are ranked by their truthfulness.

The UK Children's Media Literacy Report asked a range of minors about their internet use and search engines habits. It was discovered that while 95 per cent of 12-15-year-olds had experience of using websites like Google or Bing, 32 per cent thought listings were ranked on how truthful websites were.

Thirty seven per cent of those asked believed that results were ranked on their usefulness and relevance to the search query, while 14 per cent said that websites paid money to rank highly in natural results.

Some 18 per cent of participants said they didn't how search engines ranked results.